27.
There was a small silence that ensued. It felt as though it lasted a century as it stretched lazily over the distance between us.
He looked around my apartment awkwardly, looking at everything but me. He shyly pointed towards the couch. I nodded and made my way towards it. He followed, sitting at the far end from where I sat.
He stayed silent, staring at the wall in front of us with furrowed brows. As did I. I wanted to give him the time to find the words he so clearly was struggling to even though he said he knew what he wanted to say.
"It's never been easy for me to find people that I get along with.
It's not a secret that I find most people unbearable and unworthy of my time.
There's a reason I only have a handful of close friends and people I trust." He paused, letting out a long, shaky sigh.
"Fuck, this is kind of making me sound like a psychopath. "
I tried my best to remain serious but I couldn't stop the small laugh that came out.
At the sound, his downturned lips tilted upwards slightly.
As quickly as it appeared, it fell into his usual tightlipped position.
What a shame, I thought to myself. Such a beautiful smile wasted, rarely gracing the eyes of others.
When it did though, you felt like the luckiest person on the planet.
As though you were worthy of being smiled at by him because it was earned.
He continued, "I gave up on the idea of finding someone, a partner, a long time ago. The way I am, my lifestyle, it's not easy for others to understand or accept that I can't give them the time or attention they need. I never found someone who I was willing to change the way I function for."
Not liking the direction this conversation was heading, I abruptly cut him off.
"I never asked you to change. I never asked for anything."
"I know. I know, but for once in my life, I wanted to.
I wanted to give you my time, all of it, and whether you knew it or not, you had it.
Suddenly, I didn't want to be at work super early.
I wanted to spend my mornings waking up, sleeping in with you.
I didn't want to stay late at work. I wanted to spend every spare second I could with you.
It confused me. Work, growing this company and being the best of the best, has always been my priority and suddenly, you became the priority.
All of a sudden, even though we knew each other for a while, there was this intense connection that I felt towards you that I couldn't explain. "
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
"Don't," he says, turning towards me and grasping my knee tightly. "You've apologized too many times. It's my turn."
"You did nothing wrong. There's nothing to be sorry for."
"Yes, I do. First, I'm sorry for being such a raging asshole when we met.
I'm sorry I never heard you out after I found out about the stand in thing.
I'm sorry about standing you up tonight.
In the beginning, I was trying so hard to make sense of everything that I threw caution to the wind and ignored obvious signs because I wanted it to be true.
I wanted us to be true and work out. In my head, it made sense.
You knew my schedule, my life and you were fitting in so perfectly I was surprised I didn't know I had been missing a piece in my puzzle. "
"Mason."
"Wait, I need to finish. When everything went to shit, I kept trying to figure out what it was about you that upturned my life to the point that some days I would rather call in sick and just spend the day with you because if I knew what it was, then maybe, I would be able to find it in someone else one day. "
At that, my body froze. The idea of him with another woman made me instantly ill. It must have shown on my face because he squeezed my knee once more with his large, tattooed hand.
"Then, tonight, looking at you I figured it out. You are the most beautiful, genuine, selfless and kind hearted woman I have ever met. You wear your heart on your sleeve and handle yourself with so much grace, I'm in awe of the woman you are. Sometimes, I feel unworthy to even be looking at you."
He slowly slips off the couch and kneels in front of me. Almost as if he's scared I'll break, he grasps the sides of my face, pulling me towards him until our foreheads are pressed, touching one another lightly.
He continues, "You make me want to be nice.
" He emphasized the word followed by a small chuckle.
I join him with a soft one of my own. "I never thought I'd find somebody who feels like I've known them my entire life, who feels like home.
Even though we've known each other a short time, you are my home.
I'm sorry that I've been such an idiot and I'll work faster on processing my emotions next time.
You know I'm not entirely used to them." He finished with another laugh.
"There will definitely not be a next time." I said, pulling back with a small smile. "So, what does this mean for us, going forward?"
Even though his last sentence was pretty indicative of what it meant, I still wanted to hear it from him.
"Can I come home, Char?", he asked quietly, leaning back on his haunches to get a good look at my face and into my eyes. He must have been surprised to find me on the verge of being a wreck because as the first tear fell, his eyes widened in panic.
Without much thought, I wrapped my arms around him and threw myself at him.
Clearly, he was not expecting that reaction as we both went tumbling backwards.
He inhaled sharply before letting out a low grunt but I quickly relaxed when I heard the sound of his deep laughter rumble throughout his chest.
"Is that a yes?"
"Are you kidding me? Yes. Yes. Yes." I peppered small kisses all over his face.
I leaned back, watching almost completely entranced by the large smile spanned across his face.
I looked up into his eyes and found him staring at my smile.
His gaze met mine and our eyes shifted slowly between each pair.
I felt my breathing get heavier and my body heavy with need.
Just as I decided I was going to lean in and make the first move, he leaned up and hungrily pressed his lips against mine as he tightened one arm wrapped around my waist and dug the other one greedily into my curls.
We stayed like that most of the night, just kissing, talking and laughing.
///
Hey everyone!
One more chapter until the book is officially over! I've already written the last chapter and it's scheduled to be uploaded in a week from todays publishment.
As a special add-on, I was thinking of doing a little spicy chapter that would be the continuation of this one. Let me know in the comments if anyone wants.
Finally, thank you for all the love throughout this journey! Keep voting, reacting and commenting - maybe another billionaire story in the works...who knows ;)
Love,
Wintersage1